The Talk
by Blue Quartz Foxy
Summary: written after watching episode 4. A little brotherly bonding that involves cellphones, secrets, and questions.


Kuragehime: The Talk

Title: The Talk

Fandom: Kuragehime

Rating: PG/K+

Notes: Another interlude/drabble that came to mind after watching episode 4 of Kuragehime.

–

Day-glow yellow painted nails tapped against the right armrest of a chair. Slender legs covered in yellow-black dotted stockings crossed one way, then the other, as violet colored eyes glanced at the clock.

"Where is he?" Kuranosuke mumbled. It wasn't like Shu-Shu to be late. Unless, it was work related. With a groan, the young man realized that must be exactly what was holding up his straight-laced sibling. This couldn't wait for Shu-Shu to finish shuffling papers, make last minute appointments, or any of that other political tripe.

"I'll just call" he decided, after all it was a simple 'yes' or 'no' question, so it wouldn't take but a moment of his brother's time. With that in mind, Kuranosuke opened his cellphone and turned it on. He didn't have to scroll through the many, many numbers stored on his SIM card to get to Shu's personal cell.

–

Kuranosuke's assumption had been correct, Shu was swamped with work. Papers tucked under his chin, two briefcase -his and one belonging to his uncle/Prime Minister- slung over one shoulder with a laptop bag just barely hanging off the opposite. And then, to top it all off, his cellphone started chiming. Luckily, Shu managed to find a table to drop the papers onto, shrugged off all three bags. However, by the time he was able to reach his phone, the ringing had stopped.

'Hm, must have switched to voice mail mode' he decided, a little relieved. Shu was composed and ready to go when his uncle emerged from his office, PR rep and campaign manager trailing behind him with security guards flanking on either side of the trio. On the opposite end of the hallway was a group of piranha disguised as people, their grinning mouths full of sharp teeth and ready to rip the Prime Minister to shreds. These 'piranhas' were also known, to people who were not Shu, as reporters.

One broke away from her fellow scavengers, a woman with a stylish hair cut and smart three piece suit. Her 'sharp teeth' revealed themselves with a smile to the Prime Minister and greeted him before ducking into the interview room prepared for them.

Quickly, Shu strode into the room and shutting it behind him to block out the curious gazes and murmurings from the rest of the piranha pack.

Squinting against the bright studio lights, Shu walked deeper into the room, standing next to a camera man while his uncle and reporter made themselves comfortable in chairs seated across from each other.

Before the interview could start, Shu's phone went off again. He reached to click it to voice-mail, until he saw the number flashing on the screen.

"Excuse me" he muttered, walking to the back of the room, hand on the doorknob to exit the interview so as to not disturb it's progress. As expected, Shu found himself attacked with questions and the patter of hurried footsteps. Unable to hear over all the noise, he sighed and turned the speaker phone button.

"Yes, what is it Kuranosuke?" he asked in a tense tone, looking over his shoulder to give one warning glare to the reporters. A few of the timid ones stepped backwards, the more vicious ones leaned in closers, hanging on every word in hopes of raking up some prime political muck.

"Aniki? Oh good you finally decided to pick up"

"...brother?" one reporter's voice rose above the cluster of bodies.

"Could this be the 'lost' younger son of the Koibuchi family?" another asked aloud.

The murmurs grew louder, louder, and louder; grating on Shu's already frayed nerves. With a snort, he strode forward with quick steps in an attempt to shake off the hounds while talking to his brother.

"What is it? Why are you calling on my private cell?"

"Ah, no need to snap at me!" Kuranosuke replied now on the defensive as well, "I just have a question to ask you."

"Can't this wait until I get home?" Shu asked between girted teeth, still being followed.

"And when will that be?"

Shu paused for a moment, "I don't know. There's so much to do, the election is closing in on us and..." he stopped short of saying more, remembering that he was being followed.

"It won't take but a second. A simple 'yes' or 'no'."

The elder brother sighed heavily. "Alright. One question, but...it had better not be what I think it's about..."

Silence greeted him on the other side of the phone.

"Kuranosuke?"

"...well now that you've brought it up, that makes it two questions I want to ask."

"The answer is 'no'. I don't know the address so stop asking me about it"

Shu could all but picture his brother's eyes rolling, "Fine, fine. Just the one question then."

Long fingers reached up to adjust square glasses to rest on the bridge of his nose. Shu glared at the reporters again, but they were all too interested in his conversation to leave. "Make it quick, I've got to go back soon."

"Are you a virgin, Aniki?"

The world stopped. For being such a crowded hallway, each syllable uttered from Kuranosuke's voice, over the speaker phone; seemed to echo as if Shu was standing in a vacant and cavernous chamber.

He couldn't move, frozen in place as that question replayed inside his head.

Virgin. Virgin. Virgin...

The loop ended abruptly, with a sound akin to a record scratching on a turntable; when Shu realized he was not alone in the hallway. He hadn't been the only one who heard Kuranosuke's question.

"Excuse me..." he said in a polite tone to the reporters before turning around and breaking into a sprint. He ran escaped to a stairway, bodily leaning against the door.

"What..." he panted with one hand to the phone while the other adjusted his glasses back to where they belonged, "possessed you to ask that?"

Kuranosuke's reply was simple, "Just curious. I've never seen you with a girlfriend. And when I talked to uncle about your love life, he said you were a virgin."

Shu's right hand hit his face so hard, covering his eyes in shame; that the force nearly knocked of f his glasses again. That old man and his mouth...

"So...are you?"

The dark-haired young man leaned heavily on the door to the stairwell. This could not be happening. Why today of all days did his brother have to blurt out such a question...and his actions had made it look all the more suspicious.

"...you are aren't you"

"What does it matter to you if I was" Shu shot back, only to realize too late he had pretty much admitted that the 'virgin rumor' was true.

"Oh it doesn't really matter to me..."

Before Shu could ask again why it was any of Kuranosuke's business in the first place, the younger brother continued, "It's just one more thing you and Tsukimi-chan have in common"

He couldn't help it. A hair trigger reaction that Shu had no control over. Although being accused of being a virgin in front of a gaggle of reporter's was as bad as it could get; only at this moment did Shu blush.

"S-she...Tsukimi-san is..." he stammered.

"Yeah."

This did not compute. Shu's inner mind theater was a blissful, pure, and happy place. Nudity, let alone the act of sex; ever crossed into his fantasy territory. However, before this new information could be fed into the land of sparkling bubbles and pastel colors, Shu put two and two together. And it didn't equate to four...

"Wait a second, how do you know Tsukimi-san is a...uh..."

"Virgin?" Kuranosuke provided, "Oh she told me, well not so much told me as I figured it out for myself."

'Of course he did. Tsukimi-san has a pure air about her, something clean and unsullied by sex...'

His mind wandered. Floating sparkle bubbles replaced with blossoming deep red roses and a fluttering white sheet. A woman with large brown eyes, a small dotting of light freckles along her cheeks, and soft wavy black hair. She giggled at him, holding the sheet to her body, "Oh Shu-san..."

A loud 'thud' echoed in the stairwell, then all was quiet. Shu was on the floor, comatose with a pool of blood, from his nose, growing around his prone form.

If it wasn't for a concerned janitor, who knows how long Shu would have remained unconscious and stranded on that stairwell.

–

"Hello? Aniki?"

After a minute without an answer, Kuranosuke frowned and turned off his phone, "He hung up on me!" the young man complained aloud, arms crossed over his 'breasts'.

"Well..." his lips pursed, "I've heard it from the horse's mouth. They are both virgins." Although this information wasn't new, Kuranosuke felt annoyed at himself for checking in the first place.

To quote Shu-Shu, what did it matter to him anyway?

He wasn't Cupid. Maybe the god of make-overs, if there was such a deity; but a diapered baby shooting love arrows at people Kuranosuke was not.

So, why did he need to know? This information didn't impact his life. If anything, knowing the jellyfish otaku and his brother had something in common...pissed him off.

His phone rang again, this time a text. An invitation to a party, so long as he did the hostess's hair and make-up before it started.

For a moment, Kuranosuke considered it. He could go back to his old friends and forget about the nest of the otaku nuns, forget about Tsukimi and his brother and their virgin-ness.

Violet eyes looked down at the text again, another moment's hesitation before pressing the delete button. As much as this current development bugged him, Tsukimi and her friends were his current fascination.

He smirked, standing up and picked up a make-up bag. Time to pay his newest pet project a visit.

–

Notes: I have no excuse for this -lol. Written on a whim since I want to try my hand at Shu's personality too. Sorry Tsukimi didn't make an official appearance, but hey in exchange you got some brotherly-bonding...sort of. Thanks for reading!


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